b! Review: Simar @Nungambakkam

LINK: http://know.burrp.com/food-dining/b-review-simar-nungambakkam/47410

Go to Simar if you want to be overwhelmed by Punjabi hospitality, good food and a posh dining experience, says Sandhya Ramachandran

Are you craving generous hospitality and great Punjabi food in the heart of Chennai? Head to Simar on Khader Nawaz Khan Road and prepare to be pampered.

Simardeep Kaur, the brains behind this Punjabi fine-dining experience, tells us how the restaurant business runs in the family, and it was only a matter of time before she started her own restaurant venture. She has even played a large role in the interior design and décor of the place. This has resulted in classy inverted egg-shaped chandeliers, a predominantly white and black space and a Punjab-inspired mural that takes up an entire wall.

After taking in the ambience, we began with a welcome drink of refreshing jaljeera that geared up our appetite. However, the lassi that was served alongside was not as thick and hearty as we usually like it. Thechanna chatpata salad made from chickpeas and vegetables, and the onion rings tossed in chilli powder and drizzled with lime – would make juicy and unquestionably delectable side dishes for a game on television.

We were overwhelmed when platters of starters – one each for vegetarian and non-vegetarian – arrived at our table. Recovering from this pleasant surprise, we dug into the peshawari aloo. Cheese, paneer and cashew nut stuffed into a potato and baked together made it the clear winner of the vegetarian starters’ line up for us. The Iranian paneer tikka, grilled in a charcoal fire, has a beautifully smoky taste. The tandoori gobi and stuffed mushroom were also well made with flavours that came together well. The vegetable sheek kebab had an overdose of ginger that dominated any other taste the vegetables might have lent to the dish.

We loved the stuffed Thai chicken starter while the mahi fish tikka was also well prepared. While the tandoori prawns weren’t fantastic, the mutton sheek kebab was tough and chewy. We really had to battle every morsel before swallowing.

Just as the starters had us satiated, the main course arrived. The breadbasket had a series of naansand paranthas and there were bowls full of side dishes to dip every piece of roti in. What caught our fancy was the ajwain parantha (parantha made with carom seeds). Aromatic, tasty and just plain divine to eat, theajwain parantha is a sure winner.

Amongst the side dishes, the baingan bartha -brinjal cooked until tender and submerged in the tasty gravy, when combined with the ajwain parantha and one couldn’t ask for anything better.

Maybe we said that too soon, as the combination of the makki ki roti (roti made from corn) and sarson ka saag was excellent too. The flavour, taste and texture were enough to immediately teleport us to the colourful plentiful land of Punjab. This is definitely the signature dish of Simar.

In the non-vegetarian curries, the mutton rogan ghosh was the one that gets out vote. Order this dish and get stunned by its tasty gravy and well-cooked mutton. Go for the prawn masala if you wish to taste a good and slightly sweet curry.

As women at a table nearby chatted effusively, enjoying a slow meal, the biryani arrived. While the mutton biryani was a tad, dry for our liking, the pea’s pulao compensated amply by being aromatic and delicious.

For those of you with a sweet tooth, give the rabdi, phirni and the gulab jamun a shot, but the one that won our taste buds over had to be thedoodhi halwa. Grainy, semi-sweet and garnished with slivers of almonds, it was the perfect end to a rich meal.

Must have: makki ki roti, doodhi halwa, mutton rogan ghosh

Meal for two: Rs 600+taxes

b! Review: Dessert Studio @ Nungambakkam

LINK: http://know.burrp.com/food-dining/b-review-dessert-studio-nungambakkam/45973

Sandhya Ramachandran heaves a sigh of relief as desserts find their altar of worship, finally, in Chennai’s newly-opened Dessert Studio India.

Chewing on gooey marshmallows dunked in a little square tub of the smoothest Belgian chocolate* on a gray afternoon in a white space with Easter egg-ish chairs as raindrops pelt the glass wall, I had just one thought running in my head – one can rarely say no to chocolate. That’s probably why Food Spreads Pvt Ltd began Dessert Studio in Chennai. No one is going to say no to chocolates, ice creams, yogurts or anything and everything dessert!

Food Spreads Pvt Ltd’s Jinshad Haziy, Rishdin Nasir and Anas Nasir found there was a lack of  ‘a food court for dessert’ in Chennai. Deciding to fill the gap, they launched Dessert Studio India, with its first branch in the city, to cater to the sweet tooth of our makkals (people)! With three brands to choose from – Choco Berries (UAE), Yogo-D-Lite (Italy) and Shake-a-Take (UK) – Dessert Studio is the place to head to if you want to satisfy those sweet cravings.

Just a week old, and they launched a new ‘signature dish’! Jinshad, who spoke to us, seems to be really passionate about giving his customers just the very best. The three young entrepreneurs have apparently hand-picked the best of Belgium chocolates after trials, sourced the very best of ingredients and can even make items from their menu themselves!

With heart-warming signature crepes (Rs. 250) smeared with honey (we asked for maple syrup instead) and having slices of strawberry, mango and banana tossed over it accompanied by a few curls of vanilla ice cream, we began our binge.  Called the ‘Hunny Bunny’, the crepes were well made and tasted simply divine.

The Strawberry yogurt (Rs. 70) was tangy, grainy textured and was how a frozen yogurt ought to be. Extra brownie points for wonderfully overcoming the difficulties of ‘getting a tad too sweet’ that strawberry flavour generally poses. And as all yogurt brands woo you to their yogurts, Dessert Studio also lets you personalise-your-yogurt section, where for an extra charge, you could top it with apricots, kiwis, sesame seeds, M&Ms and much more.

The fruit and walnut crumble (Rs. 175) won my favour instantly. One needs to describe this dish in detail, for it merits that. The bottom layer was biscuit crumbled in ghee (my friend wasn’t too appreciative of this, although I personally loved this touch. So the anti-ghee brigade, take note, you have been warned). The next layer was milky white cream that was a little sour. Over that was the most delightful mix of whole soaked almonds, slivers of walnut, condensed milk and cooked apple pieces – soul food, to sum it up. This mix is dusted with crumbled biscuit, a swirl of chocolate sauce and gratings of coconut (once again won my heart and made my friend more wary of the dish!).

However, what we both simply agreed on was the Ferrero Rocher milkshakes (Rs. 180).  An instant spirit lifter, we guarantee, this milkshake could be topped with any of the toppings you request – from wafers to walnuts and what not! And if you are not really a Ferrero Rocher fan (although I can’t imagine a human being of that kind!), then you could choose from a variety of chocolate bars – Galaxy, Toblerone, Bounty, to name a few – for your own version.

We also tried the Lindt Dark Chocolate milkshake (Rs. 250), insisting that we have the 85% dark chocolate bar in our drink. What resulted was a purist’s paradise – fit only for those who love their dark chocolate passionately!

And it is not just for the food that you go to Dessert Studio – the white space has been carefully (and personally!) designed by the owners and their families. A bright colourful print hangs as a false ceiling contrasting with the stark white tables and perforated egg-like chairs.

They promise they are thinking of introducing a few types of coffee to go with their crepes for what we thought was a dream-come-true Sunday brunch plan. Rishdin and Jinshad insist that they are going to begin to try out some varieties of coffee beans for this! We promise to come back for the coffee, although we are sure the desserts are going to woo us back to the place and we suspect it is going to be very very soon!

* The dish called the ‘Choco bites’  (Rs. 200) offers a platter of marshmallows, strawberries and bananas that could be had with a tub of Belgian chocolate.

Must try: Ferrero Rocher Milkshake, Apple Almond Crumble, Choco Bites

b! Review: The Madaras Kafé @ Nungambakkam

LINK: http://know.burrp.com/food-dining/b-review-the-madaras-kafe-nungambakkam/44116

Want to sip on some good filter coffee, while snacking on some experimental south Indian recipes in the heart of Chennai? Toss the same-old-idli-dosa out and head to The Madaras Kafé for something new, says Sandhya Ramachandran.

There was something defiantly different about this restaurant, even before we landed there. It had refused to succumb to calling itself Chennai Café. And to top it all, it spelt itself as Madaras, the way most Tamilians especially the ones with the heavy accents pronounce it. Popular amongst the college crowd, The Madaras Kafé recently completed a year in the business. And as per our burrp! notes, that’s a good time to test the kaapi. After all, the teething troubles are a distant memory, the junta has given its verdict and most regulars (yes, by then a good restaurant should have a bunch of regulars) have their ‘usuals’ set in their minds.

Our sixth sense was well rewarded, when we landed there and realized that it was one innovative food hub alright! Barotizza, vadawich, grillwich – no no, these are not nonsensical words from any new Tamil item number. These are actually the food items on their menu!
So let us begin with the barotizza. Mr. Somasundaram, Managing Partner of The Madaras Kafé explains that it is their Indian spin on the pizza, with a barotta base. Fancy that! The vadawich is a burger and the grillwich is the grilled sandwich. The novelty doesn’t just stop with the nomenclature but extends to the food as well. Excited, we began to dig in!

We confess we have a weakness for the vada or our South Indian fried lentil fritters, and so we picked the Mini Tower Vada to start with. Either the vada was very tired waiting for us all day (we got there only in the evening), or their microwave refused to reheat it – but the vada tasted insipid and was obviously not fresh. Despite being served with a dollop of cheese on a bed of diced tomatoes and onions it still couldn’t impress us. If only it had been hot, it might have succeeded to entice, but now, we were left with our imagination to do the needful.

Off to a bad start, apprehensively we bit into the next thing on our card – the Spicy Vada Holes. Bits of bun dipped in flour batter, deep fried and then rolled around in masala, these spicy vadas were a sheer delight (and according to the owner the hottest sell). We took heart again and polished off half a basket of these yummeats (well, we can invent words too!), generously dipping them in the lip-smacking spicy green chilli chutney. Throughout the meal, Mr.Somasundaram kept us entertained with stories about how college girls finish plates of SpicyVada Holes every evening, and explained to us the recipe(apart from the etymology) of the wondrous sounding dishes.

Then came the Podi Friedly (fried+idli) which had mini idlis deep fried in oil and dunked in idli-dosamilagai podi (aka gun powder… umm not the arms kind, but the traditional spicy masala powder usually served with idlis and dosas in the South). As Madarasis would exclaim, “It was a killer!” You could gobble an entire mini idli in one mouthful and experience the textures of the dish – the crunchiness of themilagai podi, the softness of the idlis with the thin crust thanks to a quick round in the frying pan. A must-eat every time you visit The Madaras Kafé!

 The Kumman Kuththu Idli, supposed to mean an idli that has been punched and reduced to pulp, literally, came by next. Sadly, with idlis dunked in a gravy of tangy tomatoes, it did not live up to its violently-wicked name. It was quite an ordinary affair, almost as if the stunt man (read chef) who was supposed to thwack it got bored mid-way and hastily finished the kumman-kutthu (or punching) act.

The Cheese Vadawich had a soft bun you wanted your beds made from, with cheese filling its core and plenty of fried vegetables joining it in the middle. If only it did not have a sinful amount of cheese in its belly, you’d want this packed in your dabbas everyday.

Continuing on the innovation, theYennai Kathrikkai Dosa (dosa stuffed with an oily brinjal gravy) was an interesting eat. It fell somewhere between good and okay in its taste. It lived up to its name, the oil from the brinjal seeping on to the dosa, making us suddenly aware that every item on the menu was just the arch rival of our diet charts *sigh*.

With the Paneer barotizza I think we have truly found our first all-Indian-pizza. The taste of the barotta and the paneer merged so (ooo) well with the pizza sauces. But what caught our fancy was the Panjambridham grillwich. Skeptical when we ordered, we were instantly converted into silly fans on first bite. This, my dears, is our answer to the pancake. Slices of fruits and chunks of dates soaked in jaggery grilled between slices of bread with a swirl of honey on top, the Panjambridham grillwich is the perfect dessert to a South Indian meal.

But in case you are still on your “I want to taste everything that is new” mode, like we were (*grin*), you must allow yourself a Paneer Payasam. Little pieces of paneer soaked in kheer made from condensed milk, sugar, cardamom and cashews, the Paneer Payasam seemed rasmalai’s cousin in terms of taste.

Finally, we reserved the signature item on the menu for the last, the filter coffee. It was love at first sip. True to their claim, it was indeed one of the best in the city – the aroma steadied our breath, the taste soothed our tongues and its appearance made us want to ask for some more. Order we did, despite being over fed like poultry chickens. Good coffee cannot be denied its due!

In case you are in the mood for some scrumptious innovation The Madaras Kafé is just the right place to head to.